


the metal's heartbeat

by exyandreil



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Multi, Robot/Human Relationships, but not? itll make sense further along i promise, well not really but kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-04-19 11:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14236086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exyandreil/pseuds/exyandreil
Summary: there are three laws of robotics.i) a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.ii) a robot must obey orders given by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law.iii) a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.neil josten breaks all of them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> wow so uhm, this is going to be a wild ride my dudes
> 
> this is my take on a dystopia thing, but with robots  
> robots are cool
> 
> please ask me questions about this au in the comments, i love it and could talk for hours holy heck
> 
> you can find me on my [tumblr](https://andreil.tumblr.com/) come shout at me

It was purple. It was small. It was four hours old. It was hungry. It would die soon. Neil wouldn’t.

“Neil.”

Neil narrowed his eyes, leaning into the bush. Just to get a closer look. He blinked, taking a photo of the butterfly. Bushes were a rare sight in the city, something living in the lower sectors that wasn’t a human seemed almost impossible. He’d look it up later when he had the time.

“Neil.”

His curiosity could be seen as a flaw, something that needed to be ironed out. Or a blessing in disguise, a modern miracle in fact.

“Neil, come on.”

Neil reached out to touch the butterfly, eyes widening with amazement.

Kevin swiftly caught his wrist, sighing slightly. “What have I told you about touching animals?”

“Don’t.” The butterfly flew off of the leaf, a stark contrast from the gray of the alleyway.

“Then why were you going to touch it?”

“I wanted to Kevin.”

Kevin dropped his wrist, looking at his watch. He scowled and tapped it a couple of times, bringing up a map. “Come on, Nicky’s being frantic.”

“Who’s Nicky?”

“My friend. Now come on,” He picked up his bag, the metal parts clinking against each other. “We were due there ten minutes ago, and he’s worried that my coffee is going cold.”

Neil nodded. “Okay.”

Kevin waited for a second, before pulling up his hood. “I don’t want people noticing you yet, remember?”

“I can pull my own hood up Kevin.”

He frowned slightly. “I get it. Keep your eyes on the ground.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t talk.”

“I know,” Neil put his hand on Kevin’s real arm. “You tell me every time.” He smiled softly at him.

“Remember them, okay?”

“I will,” He peered at the hologram coming out of Kevin’s watch. “We’re now eleven minutes late, it’ll take us eight minutes to walk there if we cut through the alleyways.”

Kevin paused, looking back at his watch. He pinched the blue hologram, nodding. “Huh. How’d you know the address?”

Neil shrugged. “Just guessed.”

“I’ll check how you did later.” Kevin smiled at him, walking out of the alleyway.

Neil looked up one last time for the butterfly, before trailing behind Kevin.

Kevin Day was a mostly forgotten child prodigy from the field of robotics. As soon as he could grasp basic addition, he’d been working on robots. He’d been raised alongside another fanatic, Riko Moriyama. But, jealousy had to get the better of one of them. And the loss of Kevin’s left arm was the result of that. He’d fled, of course. Choosing to work on bigger and better projects. That was how he came up with Neil. Now, Kevin’s days were spent roaming the city’s markets, both legal and illegal, bartering with anyone and anything to get the lowest price he could for the parts he needed. That was how he met Aaron and Andrew. Alongside their workshop, they ran a stall in the marketplace, selling whatever scraps that the pair had acquired from their work at the shop. Eventually, they found out about his arm, offering to give him free repairs every once in a while. From there, he met Nicky. And Nicky was… Certainly something. Their cousin was the receptionist, making enough idle chat to make up for the twin’s lack of it. He made the place enjoyable though, and Kevin didn’t mind talking to him.

“Are we here?”

Kevin nodded. “Yeah.” He pushed open the door, sighing at the smell. At first, it was the smell of lavender that would come wafting over, a result from Nicky constantly dabbling in some form of essential oils. Then it was the smell of smoke, which was far more comforting to Kevin. One he was familiar with.

“Kevin!” Nicky looked up from his magazine, grinning. “You brought a friend!”

Neil looked around, analyzing every part of what he could see. It was all so interesting to him, the way that humans could get so invested in making a place look pretty.

“Yeah, I did. Neil?”

“Hm?” He looked up at Kevin.

“Say hi?”

“Oh!” He smiled somewhat sheepishly. “Hi.”

Nicky put his magazine down, sizing him up. “I love your eyes Neil, they’re so…” He searched for the word.

“Blue?” He tilted his head.

‘Broken?’ Kevin thought. There was a slight problem, he was only seeing blues and purples. Protanopia, apparently.

“Beautiful!” Nicky grinned and walked around the desk to them. “I would die for eyes like that.”

“Can’t you just ask Aaron for some? I thought he ‘specialised’ in cosmetics.”

“I’ve already asked. I wanted purple ones, but he said that they’d be ‘unnatural’ and ‘look weird on your face Nicky, jeez stop asking’.” He scoffed and sat on his desk.

Neil started to look around again. Everything was pretty muted to him, but he knew it was brighter in reality. His eyes were just messed up. He could tell the difference between colors if he studied them hard enough though. He could tell that poster that was taking up the majority of the wall was red, with an orange and yellow sunrise over the top of it. He was sure it was pretty.

“OH MY GOD AARON, DON’T FUCKING TOUCH IT, I JUST CLEANED THAT! NOW I’M GONNA HAVE TO DO THAT ALL OVER AGAIN!”

“IT WAS IN MY WAY, ASSHAT!”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!”

Even though they were speaking German, Neil could understand them perfectly. The translation implant was made for humans, but Kevin had adjusted it so it would work for his ‘ears’.

Nicky sighed. “Let me deal with them, and then I’ll make you two some fresh coffee.” When Kevin nodded in response, he smiled and walked over to the two doors at the back of the lobby, flinging one of them open, presumably Andrew’s. “We have customers out here!” He walked in, shutting the door behind him with perhaps a touch too much force.

Kevin glanced down at Neil, sitting down on one of the couches. “Say you don’t like coffee. Or that it’s too late in the day for you to drink it.”

Neil nodded, sitting opposite him. He leaned back into the seat, even though he didn’t need to. He’d had all of these little motions, tiny actions imprinted into his code. Just to make him seem a little more human.

“You can pull your hood down.”

“But we don’t know who’s behind the door.”

“I trust them and know them. They won’t hurt you, I swear.” He smiled softly.

Neil nodded, pulling his hoodie off entirely. He looked at the coffee table in front of him, eyes scanning over the different covers. Most looked like your typical mechanic magazines, the stuff that Kevin sometimes got. There were a few sports ones, and a singular gossip one. That one was probably one that Nicky was finished with. They could’ve sold it for a few more extra dollars, but the cousins didn’t seem like they were doing too badly for themselves. Every day more businesses slipped under as the gap between the lower classes and upper ones got bigger and bigger. That was why the black market was getting more and more popular, people would sell anything for a chance to keep their houses warm for another night, or so it seemed.

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU’RE STILL AROUND AARON, YOU BARELY DO ANYTHING HERE!”

“I DO MORE WORK THAN YOU, AND YOU FUCKING KNOW IT.”

“OH? HOW?!”

“YOU CAN GET THROUGH ONE REFIT WHILST I GET THROUGH SEVEN!”

“YEAH, BUT WHAT ARE THEY? CHANGING THE CASE OF A WOMAN’S VISOR?!”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Aaron flung the door open, holding his jacket. “O-Oh. Kevin.”

Kevin smiled at him. “You okay there?”

“I mean, yeah.” Aaron rocked slightly on his heels. “Uh…” He looked away from Kevin, instead choosing to focus his stare on a plant pot hanging in the corner. Nicky had come up with an intricate way to hang it from the ceiling. ‘ _We need to create a relaxed atmosphere in here, some people_ might _be afraid to come in!_ ’ Nicky had explained. ‘ _We’re a mechanic shop Nicky. Our line of business isn’t known for being pretty_.’ Andrew had shot back. He’d let Nicky hang up his stupid plant pot though.

Andrew stumbled out behind him, pushing Aaron out of the doorway. “What do you need doing?”

“My grip is getting shoddy,” Kevin stood up, holding his arm out. “Can Neil come with?”

“Don’t give a shit.” Andrew looked him up and down before shrugging and walking back into his workshop. The room next to it was most likely Aaron’s then.

Aaron smiled at Nicky. It was rare that he did, so it was a comforting sight. “I’m gonna go drop by the market, close up for the day.”

“You think Robin’s sold much?” Nicky quipped, walking out of Andrew’s workshop.

“She’s better than you give her credit for.” Aaron scoffed.

Kevin nodded. “She’s making these little robots out of ten cent parts, selling them for ten dollars.”

Nicky gawked. “What?!”

Neil nodded. “She’d made a lot, probably about-”

Kevin flung a hand over his mouth before Neil started to rattle off random facts. It was problematic, but he could settle that bug later on.

“COME ON!” Andrew growled.

Kevin smiled, grabbing Neil’s wrist. “Maybe we’ll see you when you come back, Aaron?”

“Yeah. Maybe,” He pulled his jacket on, zipping it up. “See you.” He walked to the door and out into the street, the door closing behind him.

“Coffee?”

“In a bit Nicky, hold my bag? It’s just spare parts.”

Nicky nodded and took it from him, walking back to his desk. He didn’t bother asking what they were for, he wouldn’t know anyway.

“Thank you!” Kevin walked into the workshop, dragging Neil behind him.

Neil kicked the door shut, prompting Andrew to look up at him. “Why?”

“Why what?” Kevin sat down on the bench, holding his arm out.

“Why have you done… That?”

“Huh?”

Neil sat down in the corner of the room, looking out of the window. He looked to see if he could see any bugs. He liked bugs.

“It’s not a human.”

Kevin gulped, his throat going dry. “I-”

“Humans don’t have a battery port.”

Kevin snapped his head to look back at Neil. “NEIL!”

Neil jumped and looked at Kevin, meeting his stare. “What?”

“...Fuck.”

“I understand why you would pick the ankle, but it’s not very good when your fucking robot doesn’t have the AI to roll up its sock.”

“He has more emotions than you do.”

Andrew scoffed. “Funny. Tell me another.”

“He does Drew. He really does.” He rolled his sleeve up, exposing the hard metal. He only had the cash to get his hand covered, that was the only thing Aaron wouldn’t do for free.

“Can’t we put a plastic shell on this? You’re just going to end up damaging the wiring.”

“It’s fine,” Kevin cracked his neck. “Everything else about him is good though, right?”

“It.”

“Him.”

“It,” Andrew sighed. “Is it obeying the rules?”

“No.”

Andrew paused, looking up at him. “What?”

“He’s slapped me before, hard. Rule one. He never fucking listens to me. Rule two. He’d jump in front of a car for me. Rule three.”

“How in the fuck?!”

“I’m smart, what can I say?” He grinned and laid back.

“I hate you,” He grabbed his arm, starting to test his reflexes. “You could get arrested for letting him have… Thoughts.”

“You’re just jealous because you don’t have any.”

Andrew pressed down a little too loud, scoffing when Kevin yelped. “Shut your mouth.”

Kevin looked away. “How’s Robin?”

“That brat is apparently making a name for herself in the toy robot community, according to your robot friend,” He glanced at Neil. “Bring up camera thirty seven mark eight.”

Kevin smirked. “Not how it works.”

“Why isn’t he listening?”

“It’s a precaution. If we’re in the streets and someone is talking to their android, and they execute a command, I don’t want him running it.”

“You take him out with you? This is a common occurrence?”

“Yeah, almost every day.”

“How have you not been caught, idiot.” He went back to testing the wires, occasionally tightening a screw.

“We have precautions. Like I said.”

“What about bust-ins? Have the pigs not checked up on you yet?”

“I’ve only had him for two months-”

“TWO MONTHS?!”

Nicky gasped. “NO SHOUTING ANDREW JOSEPH!”

“SHUT UP!” He looked back at Kevin. “How have you done that much in a month?!”

“I don’t know,” He shrugged. “Just did.”

“So, he’s still got the normal features of a robot?”

“Yeah. A translator chip, he’s hooked up to the mainframe, and he has a deck built into him. He can communicate with other bots, but I’m not letting him.”

“Built in?”

“Yeah.” Decks were the phones of the city. Blue holograms that had everything you could need. Texts, calls, maps, games, even a way to get food delivered to where you were standing. Most people had them on their watches or tapped into the side of their glasses. They were mandatory and the government gave them out for free every month to those who’d lost them. A free way to track the citizens. Conveniently, some people on the poorer side of the spectrum would ‘lose’ their decks, and have them land into the hands of sellers in the black market. Then they were sold onto people wanting to change their identity, or to people wanting to plant them into their androids. All in all, a pretty good invention from the pigs.

“Surely he’s not perfect.”

“Never said he was,” Kevin yawned slightly. “He can’t see color.”

“He can’t?”

“Only blues and purples.”

“I can fix that if you want.”

“With your magical robot hands?”

“Nah. I’ll just steal some shit from Aaron.”

“Ah, brotherly love.” Kevin scoffed.

“What’s that?” Neil looked back at them.

“Andrew’s not the best person to ask Neil.”

Andrew huffed. “What is he doing anyway?”

“Bugs.” Neil smiled, his eyes almost sparkling.

“What?”

“He’s looking for bugs.” Kevin sighed.

“Why…?”

“I don’t know, I don’t pick what he likes.”

“If it were up to you, you’d probably pick something like… History,” He scoffed. “There. Fixed.”

Kevin tightened his hand into a fist. “Much better.”

“Yeah, I know. I did it,” Andrew rolled his eyes and picked up his tablet. “Get up. I want to look at this bot boy of yours.”

“Neil.”

Neil had his head stuck out of the window, hand reaching down to brush his fingertips against the blades of grass breaking out from the asphalt.

“Neil.”

Andrew grabbed a wire, plugging it into his tablet. “Will he break down if I download him to the system?”

“I’d really rather you didn’t,” Kevin frowned. “Neil.”

“What? Why?” Andrew scoffed.

“Everything that gets downloaded goes to the public, remember?” Kevin sighed. “NEIL!”

Neil jumped, hitting his head on the window. “Kevin! That hurts…”

“Pain receptors?”

Kevin nodded. “Get on the bench, Andrew wants to check you out.”

“How much money have you spent on him?” Andrew sat on his stool, spinning around slowly.

Neil wandered on over to the bench, lying down.

“Hundred thousand?”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah…” He would make things for people, making sure he got what he could for what he could give. “Not all at once though, the most expensive thing was the skin.”

“I’m not even going to ask.”

“It’s not weird, it’s based on golden orb weaver silk,” He grinned. “It was a bitch to engineer, but I did it.”

“Is there teeth in him?”

“Andrew. You’ve seen him speak.”

“Whatever.” He plugged the wire into Neil’s ankle, tapping some more things into his tablet.

“Been busy today?”

“Yeah, this shop owner contracted us to fix all of her bots.”

“Nice.” Kevin shut the window.

Andrew looked up at Neil, pressing the button to download his data. Just onto his tablet, he wouldn’t submit it anywhere. Technically illegal, but Andrew didn’t care.

Neil hummed and looked around the room. “You need to clean.”

“Why isn’t he turning off?”

“Pardon?” Kevin spun to face him.

“I just did a direct download, he should be turning off, going into standby at least. That’s far too much for any system to handle when they’re operating.”

“I don’t know, Neil’s special I guess.”

“Fuck this shit.” Andrew stood up, reaching for the power down button behind his ear. He fumbled around for it, narrowing his eyes.

“Stop! That tickles!” Neil squirmed, trying to move his head away.

“Explain.”

“How many times do I have to repeat it? Neil is special.”

“Neil is a weird name.”

“Shut up.” Kevin scoffed and looked out of the window.

“Where is his power down button then?”

“Collarbone.”

Andrew thought about it, sitting back down on his stool. That did make sense. The pigs would always do random checkups, pushing you to your knees and pressing behind your ear. “Smart. Can he do it himself?”

“Sure, just ask him.” Kevin smirked.

Andrew waved him off dismissively. “Neil, power down.”

Neil tilted his head. “I’m not allowed to do that.”

“Oh, mY GOD.” Andrew put his head in his hands.

Kevin smirked. “Neil?”

“Yeah?” He looked up at Kevin.

“Terracotta, aubergine, lime.”

Neil’s eyes flashed a bright blue, body going rigid. “Activation protocol commenced.”

Andrew jumped off of his stool, yelping.

Kevin only smirked. “Run line eight hundred and thirty-four.”

“Fetching line eight hundred and thirty-four,” His eyes flashed, before blinking. “Would you like to activate the power down cycle?”

“Yes.”

Neil shut his eyes, his joints relaxing.

“So… Now he’s turned off?”

“No shit.”

Andrew glanced at his tablet, it was practically going haywire. “I-”

“Take whatever you want, just don’t save the whole thing.”

Andrew nodded, scanning over the log. “You realize how much you could sell him for, right? Probably eight million…”

“I know. But I’d rather leave the big discovery to the public researchers. It’s their job after all.”

“There you go again, fawning over Knox…”

“He’s just really good at what he does, okay?!”

“Yeah yeah,” Andrew scoffed. “I want ‘Neil’s’ hardware list.”

“I can just write it for you?”

“That’s probably safer.”

Kevin nodded. “Since when have you cared about being safe?”

“Since I could get killed for having an almost human in my shop.”

Kevin clicked his tongue. “True,” He looked Neil up and down. “Can you fix his eyes?”

“Now?”

“He barely gets powered down, so yeah. Please.”

“How good is his battery usage?”

“I only need to charge him once a night.”

“Stop being good at things.”

“Nah.” Kevin smirked.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “Get out and entertain Nicky, I’m sure he’d love it.”

Kevin sighed. “If you break him, you pay.”

“I’m not Aaron.”

“Haha. Funny.” He walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Robin looked up, beaming. “Kevin!”

Kevin melted, just a little bit. How could he not? “Hi, Robin.”

“You want a robot? I made them myself.”

“Sure,” He tapped his watch, bringing up his deck. “How much?”

“Well, normally they’re ten dollars. But, you’re a friend, so… Seven?”

“Can't you give it to me for six?”

“Nah. I’d give it to Aaron for six, but not you.” She smirked slightly. Robin was a mouthy brat, but she was the image of Andrew. She was their ‘ _unofficial child, but not child_ ’, as Nicky once put it. The shitty, shitty government didn’t care for street rats, no matter how intelligent they were. When Andrew saw her fiddling with some scrap parts in one of the cities back alleys, he let his shred of humanity shine through, taking her under his wing. She’d blossomed underneath their guidance and Kevin knew that Andrew would start teaching her advanced robotics sometime soon.

Kevin sighed dramatically, tapping the payment into his deck. “Only because I like you.” Neil would probably enjoy it.

Robin grinned, tapping her watch against his. “Thank you, pleasure doing business with ya,” She opened her satchel, rooting around. “What’d you want?”

“Give me whatever.”

Robin nodded, placing a metal car in his hand. “It has dog ears, see?”

“Huh. Yeah.” Kevin put it in his front pocket, sitting down on the couch again. He picked up his magazine, carrying on where he left off.

Robin grinned, looking back at Aaron and Nicky. “Do you two want one?” She walked over to them, putting her hands on Nicky’s desk.

“I’m good, firecracker.”

Aaron nodded. “Me too.”

Nicky peered over the corner, looking at Kevin. “Where’s your pretty friend?”

“Him and Andrew are talking over some code, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Nicky gasped, clutching Aaron’s arm. “Did you hear that?!”

“Yes, I’m not deaf.” He rolled his eyes.

“Andrew’s making friENDS,” He beamed. “You think they want anything to eat?”

“I think they’re fine? They didn’t seem like they wanted to be bothered.”

“But Erik bought me chocolate cake, he might like it.”

“I know Neil, he won’t like it. And even if he did, it wouldn’t be good to get him hooked on expensive sweets.” Of course, Erik could afford cake. Kevin used to be able to, but that was a long time ago. He didn’t know much about Nicky’s husband, but he did know that he was the son of a high ranked family. Nicky could’ve run off with him to one of the better parts of the country, away from the danger and constant threat of the city. But he stayed with his cousins. Someone had to look after them and Robin.

Nicky frowned, nodding. “I get it.”

Robin looked at Nicky, smiling slightly. “Can I have some cake?”

Nicky glanced back at her. “We’ll see.”

“Yessssss.” She grinned.

Andrew stuck his head out of the room. “Kevin. Here.”

Kevin looked up, putting his magazine down. He walked over, slipping into the room behind him. “What is it?” He shut the door, walking over to where Neil was lying.

“How did you make him have a heartbeat?”

“Huh?”

“He has a heartbeat.”

“I didn’t give him a heartbeat.”

“But he has one,” Andrew raised an eyebrow. “Feel.” He put his hand on his neck.

Kevin did as he said, sighing. “Andrew, there’s-” Fuck.

“See? It’s steady.”

“I don’t even know what’s up with him, and honestly, I don’t think I’m ready to know.”

Andrew shrugged it off, moving away from him. “You can turn him on now.”

Kevin rubbed his arm, gulping. “Yeah.” He slipped his shirt down slightly, pressing the button underneath his collarbone.

Neil gasped, eyes flinging open. He sat up, clutching at Kevin’s shirt. “K-Kevin, there’s- there’s-” He struggled to think of the word.

“Hey, hey, breathe…”

Neil’s hands shook, holding his shirt even tighter.

“What was it?”

“I-I don’t know but I just felt something.”

“Neil, you feel a lot of things, what did you feel?”

“I don’t know!”

Kevin sighed, looking at him. “How’s your vision? Seeing more colors now?”

Neil paused, squinting slightly. “You have black hair.”

“I do.” He smiled.

He looked around the room, smiling. “He has blond hair.”

“Wow. Observant.” Andrew looked back at his tablet, reaching for his almost cold coffee.

“Are we done for the day?” Neil got off of the bench, pulling his hoodie on.

“Yeah. How much do I owe you?”

Andrew shrugged. “I don’t know, do I look like I do?”

Neil rocked on the balls of his feet. “Can we go to the park?”

Kevin sighed, looking at Neil. “Tomorrow. It’s late, and I want to get home before they sweep the streets.”

“Ah fuck, is that today?” Andrew put his coffee down, yawning.

“Mhmm. It’s Tuesday.”

“Ugh…” He got up, stretching slightly. “NICKY, CAN WE GO HOME?!”

“YEAH!”

Andrew glared at Kevin and Neil. “Out.”

Kevin scoffed. “We’re going.” He grabbed Neil’s forearm, pulling him out.

Andrew walked behind them, locking his door.

Nicky glanced up, smiling. “You two okay?”

Neil nodded.

“Good!” He shut his laptop, slipping his watch onto his wrist. “We’ll see you two soon, right?”

Kevin nodded, picking his bag up from the desk. “Yeah. Bye guys.”

Robin waved, before going back to tapping at her watch.

Aaron smiled. “See you.”

Neil hummed, walking out. “Oh!” He looked up at the darkened sky, clouds blocking the sun. “Rain.”

Kevin stood next to him, zipping his jacket up. “Come on. The faster we move, the better.” He started to walk down the crowded streets, keeping his hands in his pockets. It might’ve been the start of March, but the chill in the air that lingered from January was still hanging around.

Neil followed behind him, keeping his head down. Home for them wasn’t much to speak of. A basement apartment that Kevin had got on the cheap because of the neighbors. They weren’t the quietest of people, but Neil could easily block them out and Kevin had headphones with a choice of heavy bass music. Everything that Kevin did was to minimize his presence in society. The less of a presence he had, the better. Neil only wished that they could go to the park sometimes. And he only wanted to go sometimes, not every day. He was made in the body of an eighteen-year old, and could easily keep up with anyone his ‘age’ academically and physically. But he still had the obsession with bugs. Kevin should’ve fixed it, it was an easy fix. But he didn’t want to. Every little quirk of his made him more human. It was insane, this robot having thoughts, emotions, feelings, a _heartbeat_.

“Watch out.”

Neil looked up. “Huh?”

“You’re about to trip.”

Neil paused, looking at the trashcan. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” He snorted. “Here.” Kevin walked up to the door, pressing his watch against the sensor. The soft beep welcomed him into the apartment, Neil following behind him. He dropped the bag at the door, kicking his shoes off.

Neil pulled his hoodie off, shaking his hair dry. He yawned a little as he sat down and took his shoes off.

“Why are you yawning?”

“I saw Andrew do it, don't humans yawn?”

“Andrew is a lazy piece of shit, he’s not the best example of a human Neil.”

“But he made me see.”

“He could do so much more than that if he actually gave a shit.”

“Oh,” Neil stood up, walking over to Kevin’s bedroom. “Can we watch the TV?”

Kevin nodded, sitting on his bed.

“Are you tired? Do you need to yawn?” Neil tilted his head and sat next to him.

“I’m good Neil. Thank you,” He tapped at his deck, using it as a remote for his TV. “News?”

“Okay.” He leaned back against the wall, sliding down it.

Kevin scoffed but flicked over to the news.

“Next up, we’ll be discussing the future of robotics with Jeremy Knox, an upcoming researcher who’s devoting his career to expand the public’s knowledge of his field.”

Kevin’s ears pricked up, sitting up slightly.

Neil grinned. “Andrew was right, you do fawn over him.”

“Shut up, I don’t…” Kevin grumbled under his breath.

“If you say so.” He couldn’t help but smirk.

“Remind me to lower your AI tomorrow.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.” Kevin looked back at the TV though, he was drawn in by his presence. He was barely older than him, but he’d achieved far more in his life.

“Really Kathy, I don’t deserve the praise. I’m just doing what anyone would, trying to help people understand the technology that’s surrounding us.”

“And the way you’re doing it Jeremy is fantastic, really,” She swiped her hand to the left in the air, an overlay appearing on the screen. “Over a thousand files and instruction guides, helping everyone to the little girl on the street corner just learning how wheels work to the people creating the technology that is shaping our nation.”

“Thank you. Everything is up there for free, I really believe that we shouldn’t be limiting the knowledge when it surrounds us already.”

“Isn’t that wonderful ladies and gents?” A cheer erupted from the audience, causing Jeremy to smile. “Now, what do you think is next for the future of robotics? How much further do you think we can go?”

Jeremy nodded slowly, taking a sip of his water. He placed the cup on the side table, smiling again. “Obviously, I believe that we can go much further. At most, currently we have robots starting to perform basic tasks on their own devices, they’re able to have a simple conversation similar to how an eight-year old would. So there’s room for improvement, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.”

“What do you mean by that?” She tilted her head, clasping her hands together on her desk.

“In my personal opinion, even though it is one of many, is that we can not get to a point where we are unable to tell the difference between a human and robot. If robots start having emotions, or they are able to put a human at harm, that could progress to something far above our current understanding. And there’s the obvious ethics question, how far can we go before it’s too late?”

“Too late?”

“Too late to undo the damages that may happen,” He frowned ever so slightly. “The laws are in place for a reason, people may create whatever they like, as long as the artificial intelligence complies with the three main laws of robotics. They’re there to keep us safe.”

Kathy nodded slowly, taking it all in. “I really feel that all of us have learned something tonight Jeremy. You have an extraordinary talent, one that I believe will truly benefit the country.”

“Thank you, Kathy.”

Kathy smiled, turning back to the camera. She started to rattle on about more information, but Kevin had stopped caring.

“Kevin?”

“Neil…”

“What is it?”

“What if…”

“I don’t understand you, Kevin.” He frowned.

Kevin looked up at Neil. No. He was okay. Andrew had been able to tell that he was a robot almost instantly, he’d be okay. It would probably be decades until the rest of society caught up with him anyway. And then he would’ve moved onto the next phase, and everything would be okay. “Go to bed. Now.”

Neil nodded, getting off of the bed. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Neil.”

Neil smiled and walked out of the room. He wasn’t going to ‘go to bed’. He was going to plug himself in, stand in a corner on standby mode.

Neil wasn’t a human.

Neil wasn’t a robot either.

So what was he?

Robots didn’t have heartbeats.

\--

Wednesday, March 4th. 2:14 am

_kevin_  
_holy shit kevin_  
_fucking_  
_oh my god_  
_wake up_  
_this is important_  
_like super important_  
_wake up bitch!!!_  
_it’s only two am_  
_why are you sleeping anyway_  
_wake up_  
_this is relevant_

Kevin groaned, looking at his watch. Fucking Andrew. He was needy when he wanted to be.

_what?_

_look at the news_  
_fucking_  
_look_  
_oh my god_  
_oh m y god_

_can you just tell me, my internet gets cut out in the morning._

_i cant just tell you_  
_this is a big deal_  
_riko_

Kevin froze, sitting up.

_what’d he do?_

_literally just open up your tablet and search his name_  
_itll say it_  
_he wrote it all out in black and white_  
_gave out some code_  
_photographs_  
_fuck kevin_  
_youre fucked_  
_neil is fucked_

Kevin tried to ignore the shaking in his hands as he searched his name up. No. No. Fuck. FUCK. He’d clearly watched Jeremy speak about ‘drawing the line’. Oh god. Jesus. He dropped his tablet to the floor. What could he do now, but hope for the best? He’d find him. He’d take Neil. He’d take all his hard work away. Every hour, every cent he’d put into him, gone. Fuck.  
Maybe Riko’s creation didn’t have a heartbeat. Maybe Neil would be okay. But Kevin doubted it. He really did.

* * *

_I crossed the line. After months of research, I finally completed my goal. I made the perfect robot, blending the lines of human and android. His name is Jean. He can think, feel, act on his own. He can make his own choices, he can make his own path. He is the next generation. Attached are photos of him in development, and sections of his AI. He will be the point of perfection. More will follow._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plans come into action, things fall into place, and jean is damaged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hi hey, this would've come out earlier if editing didn't suck ass
> 
> anyway, watch out for the purple butterflies
> 
> you can find me on my [tumblr](https://andreil.tumblr.com/) come shout at me

Kevin swung his legs out of bed, practically running to Neil’s room. He knelt down by the side of his bed, shaking him awake. “Neil, Neil please.”

Neil sat up, looking down at Kevin. “Huh?”

“Fucking, disconnect yourself from the mainframe. Please. Turn off your deck.”

“What? Why?”

“Do it first, then I’ll explain.”

Neil nodded, eyes flashing blue briefly. “Done, why?”

“Someone made…” He chewed his bottom lip. “Something very, very similar to you.”

“Huh?”

“Another robot. Like you.”

Neil frowned, looking down at his hands. “Kevin?”

“Yes?”

“Earlier… When I got turned on again…”

“What is it?” Kevin stood up.

“I felt another system. We made a link.”

Kevin froze. No. No no no. He stumbled back. “You what?!”

“I don’t know his name, b-but I can try talking to him?”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!” He hissed. He wanted to raise his voice, he really did. But that would mean potentially getting attention. And Kevin really didn’t need that right now.

Neil looked up, eyes full of fear. “I tried, but it only just came into my head that it could’ve been a system Kevin!”

“Still!”

“I’d just woken up, you can’t expect me to be working at full functionality as soon as I get up!” Neil clutched his blanket.

“You didn’t wake up Neil!” Kevin gritted his teeth. “You are a robot, you were powered down!”

“Treat me like a robot then, if that’s what I am!” Neil snapped. Wait. Shit. “Wait. Wait. Kevin-”

Kevin balled his hands up into fists. “You know what? Fine. Stay here, try to talk to this robot. I need to go out.”

“Out? W-Where?”

“I need to speak to Andrew,” He sighed, looking at him. “Don’t even think of leaving. If you even dare to try to turn your systems back on, you will not have any legs to stand on tomorrow.”

Neil nodded. “How long will you be out for?”

“Does it matter? You don’t need feeding, you’re not a cat.” Kevin scowled, leaving the room. He locked the door behind him. Maybe he didn’t need to be so harsh. But if Riko was out there, flouncing his new creation, he needed to be careful. He’d had first hand experience of Riko’s rage, and he didn’t want to go through it again. Anyway, Neil was a robot. Not a human. He might’ve broken the laws, but he hadn’t crossed the line. Even if he had, he could blur them. He pulled on a jacket and tied his laces, making sure that the door was locked shut as he left. He should be running, sprinting to Andrew’s. But he wasn’t. That would alert the pigs. Well, the cameras or a sentry would pick it up first, but that was irrelevant. He didn’t want to get caught. Kevin didn’t need a target on his back.

_i’m coming up._

 

_howd u know i was up here  
or awake_

_you’re always awake and always up there._

_touché_

Kevin scoffed but made his way into the apartment building. Andrew lived in a good place, better than he could probably afford. He paced the floor in the elevator, almost kicking down the door to the roof.

Andrew was lying on the ground, slowly building up a small pile of cigarette butts. ‘Lazy shit.’ Was all Kevin could think.

“How many have you smoked in the past hour?” Kevin remarked, sitting next to his feet.

“Not enough.” Andrew scowled, watching as the smoke flew up into the air.

Kevin sighed, looking up at the stars. He’d guessed that Andrew was probably in one of his lower moods, it wasn’t best to push too hard. He didn’t want to be stuck with two robot arms. “So-”

“The elephant in the room. Kevin Day has something that Riko Moriyama wants, aside from talent. A fake human.”

“Andrew.”

“What? It’s true. He’s got one, he said that more will follow. Your fake human is gonna get caught.”

“He’s a robot, nothing more, nothing less. Not a fake human.”

“Yeah, tell yourself that,” He scoffed. “Nicky still wants to fuck him though, and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to fuck a robot.”

“I don’t think I programmed him to be gay.”

“You didn’t program him to be anything, dumbass.” Andrew grumbled.

“What do we do…?” Kevin rubbed his face, cringing at the roughness he felt. He needed to shave, but he couldn’t afford the razors at the moment. They were expensive, aesthetics weren’t important to the lower sectors and beards were probably a source of warmth for some. Didn’t mean Kevin had to like it.

“There’s nothing you can do. I’m sure you can’t bare to turn him off.”

“Andrew…”

“Why would you want to? He’s your greatest creation after all.”

“I’ve made better.”

“No, no you haven’t.”

“I have.”

“I’m sure that you haven’t made something better than a human-”

“HE’S NOT A HUMAN!”

Andrew scowled, putting his cigarette out before lighting another. “Get out of my sight.”

“Andrew-”

“Get out. Of my. Sight.”

“Fine,” Kevin scowled and stood up. “I’ll be back.”

“I don’t care if you will be. But come back with a brain. And a better plan than just powering him down.”

“I haven’t, he’s just off the mainframe.”

Andrew shrugged. “That’s all you need then. See? Now you don’t have to come back and you can leave me the fuck alone.”

“Andrew, can you not?” Kevin could see the metal of his knife shine in the moonlight. It matched his arm, he was familiar with that.

“Counting to three.”

“Fine,” He scowled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You mean today?” Andrew could be smart when he wanted to be.

Kevin huffed and stormed back to the door, slamming it shut behind him. Whole lot of fucking help he was… He couldn’t do anything else with Neil other than leave him as he was. He couldn’t turn him off, if he waited too long… Well, he didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to even acknowledge the possibilities. They wouldn’t happen. They couldn’t happen. Right?

* * *

Neil had listened to Kevin. A rare show of obedience for him. Instead, he was looking through books. For bugs, of course. What else would he be looking for? His frantic mind was at ease as he scanned the pages, absorbing all he could from the info that was given. He could’ve sat there for hours, if it wasn’t for the interruption that came in the form of screaming. Neil jumped when he heard it, it was loud and he didn’t like it. He scrambled to his feet and tried to find where it was coming from. But whenever he turned around, the noise was always back in front of him again. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. ‘Robots aren’t supposed to like things.’ Kevin’s voice rung in his ears. Neil sank to his knees, clutching so tightly at his arms, he could almost feel the pain. “Stop, please…” That was all he could scratch out. But it listened.

The screaming listened. It stopped.

And somewhere else in his brain, it spoke.

_hello?_

_Hi._

_who are you, how can you hear me?_

_I don’t know. My name is Neil._

_neil. mine’s jean._

Neil gulped, going back onto his bed. He plugged himself in, he’d already gone down five percent in the two minutes that he’d been speaking to this Jean.

_where are you?_

_In my house.  
Well, it’s more of an apartment. _

_i don’t know where i am._

_Huh?_

_i’ve only been here for a day._  
awake at least.  
_i think i’ve been here for longer._

_Oh.  
I think you’re the system I made contact with earlier. _

_oh.  
i remember. _

Their conversation wasn’t the best for human standards, but they were robots. This made sense to them. Logical and simple.

_Yeah._

_yeah.  
i can’t see anything. _

_What do you mean?_

_it’s all black. there’s only a little light in the corner._

_Ah._

_riko keeps on talking about taking me somewhere._

_Who’s Riko?_

_he made me.  
or so he says. _

_Kevin made me._

_he said that name.  
said he was going to kill him for what he did. _

_What did he do?_

_i don’t know._   
_i tried to ask, but then he did something to me._   
_i think he disabled my legs._   
_i can’t move them._

_I know how to fix them._

_you do?_

_If we’re the same, motor functions are stored ten files deep. Just override it._

_okay._

Neil waited anxiously, holding onto his pillow with both of his arms. He didn’t need it for his head.

_thank you._

_Are you okay now?_

_yes._

_Good.  
So where is Riko going to take you?_

_i don’t know._  
_but he keeps on saying how i’ll be better than the rest of them._  
 _stronger, faster, smarter._

Neil sat up, eyes wide.

_He’s taking you to fight._

_fight what?_

_Whatever is at the fight club._

_oh._  
_i._  
 _i don’t want to do that._

_I know you don’t._

_how can i stop him?_

_I don’t.  
I don’t think you can. _

_neil, please help me._

_I’ll try._

_please._

_I’ll try Jean._

_thank you._

Riko opened the door, looking down at Jean. White light flooded in from the doorway, stinging Jean’s eyes.

“What are you doing?”

Jean looked up and froze. “N-Nothing.”

“Nothing looks like something.”

“It was nothing, I swear.”

Riko walked up to Jean, pulling him to his feet. “I don’t appreciate liars. I definitely don’t make them either,” He gripped his throat. “So tell the truth.”

Jean winced, looking away from him. “I am…”

“Liar,” He slammed him against the wall, making Jean fall to his knees. “You’d better perform well tomorrow. I have people betting a whole lot of money on you.”

“W-What am I doing?”

“There’s a fight club, down in the seventh sector.”

“That’s the city, right?”

Riko nodded. “Mhmm.”

“What if people see-”

“I don’t care, I’ve told people about you.”

“Oh.”

“Get ready, if we get the train, we can get there by tonight.”

Jean nodded, looking away from his stare. “Okay…” It wasn’t like he had a choice anyway.

“Good.” Riko turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him.

Jean curled up in the corner of the room. The room had hardly any sunlight and it practically drowned in the shadows. The only light now that the door was shut, was from a single red light bulb, dangling overhead. He hated this. He wanted more than this. Even though he could’ve been walking to his death, if you could call it that, he was excited to leave this room. See other things that weren’t black and red, black and red, black, red, black. Neil would be there too, he’d promised. And Neil was like him. So he wouldn’t be alone.

* * *

Wednesday, March 4th, 8:27am.

Neil looked up at Kevin, frowning. Breakfast time mostly consisted of Kevin eating, Neil watching. If Neil could eat, he’d probably have what Kevin was having. Fruit. It looked so good…

“What?”

Neil jumped and looked up at Kevin. “Nothing!”

“...”

He shifted in his seat, still keeping his stare.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Jean told me something.”

“That’s his name…”

“Yeah. He’s going to go to fight.”

“Fight?”

“That’s what I guessed,” Neil gulped. “I’m afraid for him.”

Kevin took a deep breath, nodding slightly. “Okay… How do we help him?”

“I said I would, but I don’t know how.”

“It’d probably be at Renee’s, right?”

Neil nodded, picking at the edge of his shirt.

“Andrew knows her,” He picked up an apple. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“Same place as yesterday.”

“Okay. Can I look-”

“For bugs? Yes. Sure. Let’s go.”

Neil stood up, grabbing his hoodie. He pulled it on, zipping it up with a shaky hand. “Ready.”

“Come on, we can stop at a park on the way.”

“Really?!”

Kevin smiled. “If we have time, of course.”

“Okay!” Neil beamed, walking towards the door. “Let’s go!”

“Okay, okay!” Kevin laughed slightly. In this moment, he could let himself not be worried about Riko and his new thing. He had Neil. And that was all that mattered. Keeping him safe. Keeping him hidden. Keeping him protected. When he was completed, then he could work on new things. Neil was the priority now.

* * *

Andrew glanced back up at Aaron. “You’re doing it wrong.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“You’re shit at this, let me.”

“I’m fine Andrew!” Aaron scowled, lifting his goggles up. “Look, I’m just doing it slow.”

“Exactly. Wrong.”

“SHUT UP!”

Nicky sighed and placed his magazine down. “BE QUIET, CUSTOMERS ARE ARRIVING SOON.”

“YOU’RE SHOUTING TOO NICKY!”

“TO SHUT YOU TWO UP!”

Both of the twins groaned.

“Heh.” Nicky went back to reading his magazine. It was a boring morning, still quiet but the heat was overwhelming. They weren’t legally allowed to start working on customers until eleven, but they could still open up and use the shop for people to book appointments. But nobody did. It was mostly for deliveries. And today was delivery day. Which meant that any second now, the golden couple would be coming through the door.

“Hello!” Matt’s voice had an upbeat tone to it as he kicked the door open, hands full with boxes. Nicky could only be slightly jealous. How could he be so upbeat about work?

“How long have you been awake?” Nicky raised an eyebrow and reached for his coffee. He’d been talking to Erik all night… Oops?

“Since four?” Matt sat on the desk.

Dan walked in behind him, holding a box of supplies. “Gotta get to the market early for those good prices!” She set the box down on the desk, wiping her forehead. It was heavy, but she could manage it. She did the bartering and carrying, Matt did the driving and delivering. They worked well together.

“Ah…” Nicky looked at the box. It meant nothing to him. “Nice. Want me to get the twins?”

“If they’re not busy, then sure.” Dan smiled at Nicky.

“DELIVERY, HERE, NOW.”

Andrew sighed, pushing his door open. “What?” He groaned and walked through the waiting room, raising his eyebrow at Nicky when he got to him.

Nicky grinned. If it looked convincing, and it hid the ache in his heart like he thought it did, it was working. “Delivery.”

Matt placed his box on top of Dan’s, slowly sliding off of the desk. “So… Are you going to Renee and Allison’s tonight?”

“Do I ever?” Andrew picked up both of the boxes, very clearly not breaking a sweat.

“Well, apparently she’s made a really good fighting bot this month-”

“She always does,” He glared at Dan. “How much?” He picked a part up, inspecting it in his hands. He hated to say it, but it was of good quality.

“You’ve already paid, the gold thing? You can have that on us.”

Math grinned. Andrew noted that his teeth were slightly crooked. Unusual, considering his parents were ranked pretty high. They should’ve been able to fix them pretty easily. “Nobody would buy it off of us.”

Andrew shrugged and turned on his heel, walking back to his workshop.

Nicky clasped his hands together, smiling. “You need any coffee?”

Dan shook her head. “I’m good. Thanks anyway-”

Of course, Kevin had to have a dramatic entrance. If he didn’t, then he wouldn’t be Kevin. “Where’s Andrew?”

Nicky sighed. “Can you stop kicking my door in?”

“No. Where is he?”

“In his workshop.”

Kevin nodded, walking in. He awkwardly nodded at Matt and Dan, trying not to acknowledge the way their eyes sparkled with admiration. Or was it jealousy? He’d gotten so used to the stares he got that he couldn’t tell the difference anymore. Neil stumbled in behind him, looking to make sure his feet were still there.

“Neil! Do you want coffee?”

Neil looked up, smiling. “Oh, uh, no. It’s too late in the day.”

“It’s nine in the morning.”

“...”

Kevin cursed under his breath. Stupid robot smart memory… “Come on Neil.” He grabbed his wrist and pulled him to Andrew’s workshop, knocking on the door.

Matt glanced at Dan, she was still staring. “We’ll see you next week Nicky.”

Nicky nodded and waved his hand in front of Dan’s face. “Dan? Danielle? You gotta go, I’m sure you have other deliveries.”

“Hm?” She shook her head and looked at Nicky.

“Shoo.” He snorted.

Dan paused. “Oh!” She grinned. “Bye Nicky.”

“Bye, bye, bye.”

Dan rolled her eyes with a smile and left, Matt reaching out for her hand as he followed behind her.

Kevin growled and knocked again. “ANDREW!”

“WAIT.”

“NO.”

Andrew got off of his stool, kicking it to the side. “Fucking asshat, needing me to fix his stupid fucking arm-” He opened the door, eyes narrowing. “What?”

Kevin stormed in, still dragging Neil behind him. “We have a problem.”

“We do?” Andrew shut the door, resting his weight against it as he clicked the lock. It was supposed to be used during business hours only, but this was an exception. It was Kevin and his human after all. “Are you sure it’s not a you problem?”

“...”

Andrew smirked in response and walked up to his bench, sitting on it. “It’s to do with your human.”

“Andrew-”

“Can I go look out the window Kevin?” Neil looked up at Kevin, his eyes bright. They were filled with something that Kevin couldn’t describe, excitement, anticipation maybe. All he knew was that he shouldn’t have it.

“Sure.” He replied with a sigh, leaning against the wall opposite Andrew.

Neil yanked his wrist from his grip, perhaps a little too forcefully, and strode to the window. He sat down on the seat and just stared. He blocked everything out, and just stared.

“Kevin, robots don’t do that.”

Kevin rubbed his wrist, sighing. “Yeah, I know Andrew.”

“So he’s a-”

“Stop. We’ve discussed this.”

“Fine. What’d you need.”

Kevin looked up at the ceiling. Smoke patches stood out from the white, it was clear that they hadn’t repainted since they opened up shop here. Or at least since Kevin started visiting. “Neil made contact with Riko’s robot. That’s what I think anyway.”

“Oh. Oh shit.” He leant in, blond curls getting hit by the sun.

“And apparently Riko’s going to take him to the court.”

Neil snapped his head to face the two of them, purple butterfly resting in his auburn hair. “We have to help him.”

“Neil-”

“I promised, we have to.”

“Don’t make promises then, robot.”

Neil shifted and looked back out of the window again. “We have to.”

Kevin frowned and looked at Andrew. “Will you help? If I go, Riko will see me and kill me.”

“Then go.”

“Andrew.”

“...”

“I’ll let you look at Neil again.”

“Deal. But only for the night.”

“Just tonight.”

“Get him on the bench.” And with that, Andrew hopped off of it to get his tools.

“Neil, bench.”

Neil looked at Kevin, nose scrunched up slightly. “I’m not a child.”

“Just get on the bench.” He groaned.

Neil huffed dramatically and got up from his stool. The butterfly fluttered outside, Neil watching intently.

“Neil, come on.”

“Fine!” He walked over and hopped onto the bench with a slight thud.

“Drama queen.”

“He must get it from you,” Andrew turned around with a smug smirk. “Shut him down.”

Kevin sighed and ran the protocol again, watching as Neil shut his eyes. “I don’t want him fighting.”

“Lucky for you, I have a spare bot.”

“You do?” Kevin looked up, one eyebrow raised.

“Mhmm. Robin helped.”

“Of course she did.” Kevin smiled softly.

“Duh, of course she did.” Andrew rolled his eyes and plugged a wire into his tablet from Neil’s ankle.

Kevin sat down in the corner of the room, staring out into the alleyway. Why insects…? Why did he have to remember the small things, not the big things, not the answers.

“Did you figure out about the heartbeat?” Andrew looked up.

“Huh?”

“The heartbeat. It’s tracking it, almost like some kind of life support.”

“Oh. Uh.”

Andrew looked back down at his tablet, tapping again. “I can’t figure it out.”

“Same.” Well this was awkward.

“Cool,” He sighed. “Can you pay the fee to get in, Nicky took away my ‘pocket money’.”

“What?” Kevin scoffed. “Pocket money?”

“Wages.”

“Why did he do that?”

“Apparently buying cigarettes is a waste of money. So he took the money away. Now that’s a waste of money.”

“Sure.”

Andrew huffed. “When are you leaving?”

“Soon?”

“The markets about to start getting busy and unless you want to take thousands of photos, you should leave now.”

“...”

“Bye. I’ll bring your human back home safe.”

“Fine,” He stood up and brushed his trousers off. “Bye.”

Andrew kept his eyes trained on his tablet, pointing at the door. “Out.”

Kevin snorted and unlocked the door before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Andrew looked down at Neil. “What the fuck do we do with you…?”

* * *

_The Court. Tonight. You’ll see him. He’s better than any robot ever created. Just you wait._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i sure hope jean is okay


End file.
